


if I had my way, I would be yours

by t_hens



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Sexual Content, Slow(ish) Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 10:54:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20375584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_hens/pseuds/t_hens
Summary: Dan just started a new job as crew for a music arena in London, and it's great, he really likes it.he especially likes his new co-worker Phil, who he may, or may not, have a crush on.





	if I had my way, I would be yours

**Author's Note:**

> this fic, although marked as completed, is technically a wip. I’m not sure when, or even if, it will completed, so please keep that in mind before continuing.
> 
> if you do decide to read, I hope you enjoy <3

There was a loud _bang_ to the left of Dan that made him jump. He’d been stood in the hallway of the arena he’d been told to show up at for over five minutes, waiting for his trainer to come get him like he was told. 

People moved around him in a frenzy, some with equipment in their hands, others speaking quickly into bulky headsets. He looked around and tried not to feel overwhelmed, though that felt impossible at the time.

“Are you Dan?” 

Dan turned to the voice that came from behind him. The man coming towards him was tall and wiry, not unlike Dan’s own physique. His black hair was straight and pushed back into a quiff that was probably neat and orderly at one point, but now had finger marks in it, as if he’d been running his hands through it constantly.

“Yes,” Dan squeaked in reply, holding his hand up meekly.

“Great! I’m Phil.” 

Phil didn’t offer to shake his hand, or give him much more information or instruction other than waving a hand to have Dan follow him back down the hall he had just came down.

“Have you ever worked with musical equipment?” Phil asked as they turned into a room with a cluttered desk pushed against a wall that left just enough room to have a computer chair shoved behind it and a clunky foldable metal one in front of it. Phil sat behind the desk and motioned for Dan to sit in said metal chair.

“No,” Dan said, sitting down and feeling his legs wobble dangerously below him.

“That’s fine.” Phil waved his hand again and gave him a quick smile.

‘_He’s cute,_’ Dan thought, getting a proper look at Phil. His hair seemed to be dyed, if the gingerish eyebrows and roots peeking out from his hairline were to indicate anything, but it somehow seemed to work well with the contrast of his white skin. His eyes were a bright blue that Dan couldn’t help feel fixated on, so much so that it took him a few seconds to realize that Phil had said something to him again.

“Fuck, sorry. Shit, sorry, I shouldn’t swear. I-.” 

Phil cut him off with a surprised laugh that made his head tilt back towards the ceiling; the long line of his pale throat was revealed, which did nothing to stem Dan’s growing attraction.

“We’re not big sticklers about swearing around here, just make sure that you’re not doing it in front of a patron or anything,” he chuckled, turning to the computer in front of him and typing rapidly; the room filled with the clacking of keys.

“So, what exactly am I going to be doing?” Dan wrung his hands nervously.

“Did no one tell you?” Phil asked, light eyebrows raised high.

“Not really,” he replied sheepishly. Maybe he should have paid more attention in the interview? Maybe there was information to read in the thousands of emails he’d received.

“‘Course not.” Phil chuckled when he said it, making Dan breath a little easier. Maybe he hadn’t messed up too much.

“So,” Phil said, once he’d pressed the final key on his keyboard and turned to grab a piece of paper off of the printer shoved in the opposite corner. It was so close, or maybe Phil’s arms were so long, that he was able to grab it without standing. “This is a list of your basic duties. We assist with the set up and production of the artists and bands that perform here, and we just basically want to make the ‘talent’-” he raised his fingers to make quotations, using his entire hand to do so, and Dan had to stifle a giggle -”as happy as possible.”

“Are you the person that is going to train me?” 

Phil nodded, giving him another smile that made Dan’s breath catch a little. “Oliver is our technical boss, but you probably won’t meet him for a while. He’s usually traveling or in a meeting or something.” 

Dan nodded, eyes skating over the list. There wasn’t anything too extreme or intimidating on the list, and he thought that maybe he could actually do this.

“Okay, so, here is your badge.” 

Phil handed him a card with a cord attached to place around his neck. The photo on the badge was the one that the receptionist had made him take when he’d gone to HR to fill out his paperwork when he’d accepted the job. His hair was frizzy and there was a coffee stain on the jumper he was wearing. 

“You’ll wanna keep that on you at all times, for access and just general security.”

Dan nodded again, though he was thinking of ways that he could wear it so maybe the awful photo wouldn’t be the first thing that was seen on it.

“Okay, follow me and I’ll give you a tour of the place.”

-

He followed as Phil led him down another hall. They made turn after turn, but after a moment, Dan was suddenly stood on the stage of the arena. 

It felt surreal to be stood on the stage when he’d been sitting in the chairs in front of him countless times. He’d seen bands here, and even threw up in one of the rows when he was seeing Fall Out Boy once. He blushed as the memory came to his mind, but Phil’s voice brought him back to the present.

“So, you’ll be helping Max bring in the equipment from the back and he’ll show you how to start setting up.”

Dan wanted to say something about how he thought that Phil was his trainer, but held his tongue as Phil led him to Max and patted him on the shoulder before disappearing backstage.

“I’m Max.” He held out his hand and Dan shook it, feeling small for once in his life. Max was taller than Dan, and looked like he’d been weightlifting since he was an infant. Dan felt intimidated and all he’d done was meet the guy so far.

“Dan.”

Max nodded and turned to walk to where Dan assumed the equipment was, so Dan followed diligently.

Max, it turned out, used to be a professional wrestler until he’d torn a muscle and could no longer perform. That fact didn’t make Dan find him any less intimidating, but he did as he was told and helped back in case after case of equipment. His arms and legs protested every time he picked something up, but he refused to give up already. He wasn’t very keen on physical work, but he reminded himself of the upcoming rent that was due and the very low amount of money in his account, which had him picking up case after case until they were all brought back inside.

-

Phil joined them during the actual set up, and Dan listened intently as he and Max talked about the new puppy that Max had adopted. As Dan listened to him gush about the Pomeranian named Lola, he found himself smiling at the apparent softy Max was.

“Dan, do you have any pets?” Phil asked as he screwed a drum set together.

“Uh, no. My parents have a dog in Wokingham, but my landlord won’t let anyone in the building have pets.” He didn’t mention that he lived in a shitty studio apartment that probably wouldn’t even fit himself and a goldfish. 

“Same,” Phil chuckled. “I’ve wanted a dog for years, but I guess it’ll have to wait until London isn’t so stupidly expensive.”

Dan nodded and half listened as Max told a story about his dog peeing on an old man the other day on their walk. He could distanly hear Phil laugh and that brought his attention back to the present. He risked a glance at Phil every now and then as he put the cymbals in front of him together.

-

Four hours and one smashed finger later, and the whole stage was assembled. The three men stood back and admired their hard work. Max slapped Dan on the back, telling him good work, but the motion caught him off guard and he toppled forward.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Dan!” Max’s face paled as he looked at Dan sprawled out on the ground, but Phil was quick to help him up.

“It’s okay.” Dan’s face was on fire and he was sure that this moment would be replayed over and over in his brain later when he went home. Probably for the rest of his life, too.

“He just doesn’t know his own strength.” Phil gave him a gentle smile as he helped Dan right himself. 

“I’m _so_ sorry,” Max said again, his large hands covering most of his face.

“Really, it’s okay.” Dan gave what he hoped was a genuine sounding laugh. 

“Can I buy you a drink or something?” 

Dan declined, ready to be home after such a weird and physically exhausting day.

“How about a rain check?” Phil offered.

Dan looked at Phil and stared for a second before remembering himself. “Oh, okay. I guess.”

Max gently wrapped an arm around Dan and gave him what Max apparently thought was a gentle squeeze. “I think you’re gonna fit in great, Dan.”

Max’s enthusiasm was echoed in the bright blue of Phil’s eyes and the cheeky tongue pointing out of his smile. “I think so, too, Max.”

Dan’s face got even more red and he let Max lead him backstage so Phil could lead him to the exit.

-

The next night was show night, and while there wasn’t much for Dan to do other than stand around and help set up between sets, he felt a sense of adrenaline, watching bands perform so close to where he was concealed backstage standing next to Phil. Maybe the adrenaline had something to do with the way that Phil kept looking over and smiling wide at him, but Dan was actively trying not to think that way. Getting a crush on someone he’d just met who he worked with wasn’t the best idea.

“The job is kinda hard sometimes, but the shows make up for it,” Phil yelled in his ear, close enough that Dan could feel the breath on his neck, and he tried to hide the shudder that ran through him at the feeling.

Dan just nodded and smiled back. 

“You have dimples!” Phil called, his own face breaking into an even wider smile. He pressed a finger into the crater in Dan’s cheek, and Dan was sure he’d never been redder, thankful for the dim lights they were bathed in.

“Just a deformity in my face,” he joked to try and cover how affected by Phil’s touch he’d been, but he just heard Phil laugh beside him. He was still smiling at Dan when he looked away and back at the stage.

-

It was nearly one in the morning by the time the show was over and everything was taken down and loaded. Dan felt tired all the way down to his bones and was thinking about the lumpy mattress that was sat on his floor at home that would probably feel like heaven to his tired body.

He was headed towards the exit when he felt someone put their arm around him and give him a tight squeeze.

“I found Dan!” Max yelled. 

Dan looked behind him and saw Phil and a few other members of the crew following behind him.

“You didn’t forget about the rain check, did you?” Phil asked, a cheeky smile on his face.

“Oh, uh, I was actually just gonna head home,” Dan replied weakly.

“Nah, you’re gonna come out with us,” Max insisted, giving him another squeeze.

There was another protest on Dan’s lips, but he looked at Phil’s bright smile again and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “Okay.”

-

The bar was packed and loud, but Dan found himself actually having fun. He, Phil, Max, and a few other people from work were squeezed into a booth together and everyone was shouting stories and laughing. Dan felt like he maybe could actually love working with them as he laughed loudly at an antidote the small redhead on his right told.

Phil was pressed up close to him on his left side, and Dan had to keep actively reminding himself it was because the booth was so crowded and not because Phil wanted to sit that close to him. 

That didn’t stop Dan from staring at the space between Phil and the person he was sitting next to, in comparison to the space between himself and Phil. There was definitely a striking difference, but Dan tried not to let himself focus on that.

“How are you liking it so far?” Phil asked, pressing even closer to Dan.

“Uh, good,” he said honestly. 

There was a moment between them where they made eye contact and Dan thought distantly about leaning into the space between them and pressing his lips to Phil’s pretty pink mouth, when he heard a collective yell from their group.

The moment was gone before it could really form, and Dan tried not to lament about the loss of something that he wasn’t even sure was real. He turned away from Phil and saw the person that everyone was yelling for.

A man with cropped blonde hair and thick rimmed black glasses stood at the opening of their booth, everyone yelling their hellos. Dan felt everyone shuffling around him and he watched as the people on the left of Phil stood and let the new man shuffle in next to Phil.

The air in Dan’s lungs left him in one fell swoop as the man smiled at Phil and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. He felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him, and he tried to school his expression as Phil turned towards him.

“Dan! This is Oliver.”

“‘Ello!” he said, holding out his hand for Dan to shake. “I’m sorry I wasn't there for your first day! I’ve been traveling lately.”

Dan shook his hand and nodded numbly, unsure what to say back.

“Dan’s great, I think he’s gonna fit right in,” Phil gushed, giving Dan a smile that made him feel claustrophobic all of a sudden.

“Excellent! We’ll have to catch up more on Monday!” 

Dan nodded woodenly and watched as Phil turned towards Oliver and started a conversation that Dan could hear vaguely, but had no desire to do so.

“I think I’m gonna go,” he said, though Phil didn’t hear him and no one seemed like they were listening.

Dan had the people on his right move so he could stand and when he turned to leave, he heard Phil yell out at him.

“You’re leaving?” He pouted at Dan, and there was a small part of him that wanted to stay, but he wasn’t sure he could sit next to the person he’d developed a crush on and simultaneously been rejected by within two days.

“I’m not feeling well.” The only reason he knew Phil heard him was the frowny face he made, but after a second he nodded and turned back to Oliver and Dan took that as his cue to leave.

-

The streets of London felt cold and quiet after the bar, but Dan put his head down and started walking towards the tube that would take him home. He tried not to focus on the disappointment that was raising in his chest. 

What had he gotten himself into?

**Author's Note:**

> you can find this fic on [tumblr](https://tobieallison.tumblr.com/post/187235661396/if-i-had-my-way-i-would-be-yours-chapter-1) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/ta_hens/status/1165277630507040771?s=20)


End file.
